A Finger-Picked Cueca from a Solidary Companion (Cueca punteada de un solidario)

Music piece by:
Sergio Vesely
Testimony by:
Sergio Vesely
« It is true that the hard experience of torture and prison unified us and at times even generated strong ties of friendship among the prisoners. »
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Anthem of Puchuncaví (Himno de Puchuncaví)

Music piece by:
Sergio Vesely
Testimony by:
Sergio Vesely
« A few weeks before being transferred to Valparaíso Jail - where I would face a war council on account of alleged violations of the State Interior Security Law and other military regulations that existed during the state of siege - I wrote a song that I called anthem, because I wanted it to be sung as a group at the end of our cultural events on Fridays. »
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Beloved Friend (Amado amigo)

Music piece by:
Sergio Vesely
Testimony by:
Sergio Vesely
« This song, written in my cell at the Puchuncaví Prison Camp, speaks to a friend and fellow prisoner; it could be any one of the thousands behind bars. »
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Captain, our Destiny is a Wandering Island (Capitán, el rumbo es una isla errante)

Music piece by:
Sergio Vesely
Testimony by:
Sergio Vesely
« This song was dedicated to Óscar Castro, whom I was lucky enough to meet in 1975, in Puchuncaví. With his experience in theatre – Óscar was already a fairly well-known actor before his arrest – he threw himself into the cultural work we had organised, in what was then called “Camp Melinka” where the prisoners presented a show every Friday. »
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King Ñaca Ñaca (El rey Ñaca Ñaca)

Music piece by:
Sergio Vesely
Testimony by:
Sergio Vesely
« 'Ñaca-ñaca' was an interjection we used at Camp Melinka whenever we wanted to signal and poke fun at any dark thought that might cross our minds. That may be why it seemed the ideal name to give to the paper maché puppet that played the role of the mean king in the puppet stories we performed to entertain the children who came to visit their captive fathers. »
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King Ñaca Ñaca (El rey Ñaca Ñaca)

Music piece by:
Sergio Vesely
Testimony by:
Renato Alvarado Vidal
Experience in:
« During the last third of the 20th century, the concentration camps of the Chilean dictatorship were characterised by a high grade of organisation among prisoners, as well as the overflowing creativity they applied to all areas of human ingenuity. »
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La López Pereyra

Music piece by:
Artidorio Cresseri
Testimony by:
Germán Larrabe
« This zamba was the first song we tried to perform in Puchuncaví, with a group made up of prisoners transferred from Chacabuco Detention Camp together with us, newly arrived 'puchuncas'. »
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Lament for the Death of Augusto the Dog (Lamento a la muerte del perro Augusto)

Music piece by:
Sergio Vesely
Testimony by:
Sergio Vesely
« Augusto the dog (not to be confused with the journalist Augusto Olivares, affectionately nicknamed 'Augusto the Dog', who was murdered in the Presidential Palace on 11 September 1973), was the mascot of the political prisoners held at the Ritoque concentration camp, and accompanied his master when the military junta decided to close that prison and transfer the inmates to the neighbouring Puchuncaví concentration camp. »
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Lili Marlene

Music piece by:
Hans Leip
Testimony by:
Rogelio Felipe Castillo Acevedo
« We were forced to belt out these marching songs. »
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Lili Marlene

Music piece by:
Hans Leip
Testimony by:
Renato Alvarado Vidal
Experience in:
« During the daily flag-lowering ritual in the camp Melinka, the prisoners first had to get into formation in the courtyard and then walk in line to the location of the mast. »
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